Threshold
by Dustland-Fairytales
Summary: "Has the thought never crossed your mind that just saying you love me might not be enough?" Malec. Set after COG


**A/N.:** My first take on TMI fanfiction. Enjoy!

**Disclaimer:** The Mortal Instruments belong to Cassandra Clare, not to me.

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><p>„Can't you stay?" Magnus asked as Alec disentangled himself from his arms and sat up on the couch, trying to smooth out the creases in his holey sweater, which was, of course a lost cause. He was fully aware that he sounded like a whiny little kid, but that was the tone that was the most likely to make his boyfriend cave in and give him what he wanted. This time it didn't seem to work, though.<p>

Alec shook his head. "I really ought to get back."

"Why?" Magnus demanded, sitting up as well. "Do you have any fun plans for the night? Like, eradicating a nest of demons? A mandatory training session?"

"No."

"Then I don't see why you have to leave."

Alec sighed. "Magnus, we've talked about this. I can't – I mean, I…" he broke off, chewing on his lower lip as he tried to find a way to explain his reasons. "It's way past midnight already. The others will be worried if I don't come home," he ended up saying, which sounded ridiculous, even to his own ears.

"Right, because they don't know where you are _at all_," Magnus retorted, his voice full of sarcasm. "And because you can't give them a call and say 'Hey, I'm staying over at my boyfriend's apartment tonight'."

"My mother –"

Magnus snorted, interrupting him. "Oh please, Alexander. As if she would even notice you were gone. Is she even at the Institute?"

"No, but-"

"Then what the hell is your _problem?"_ Magnus asked, clearly growing annoyed.

"She will kill me if she finds out I didn't come home. And then she'll probably kill you, too. You know how she is."

Magnus scoffed. "Alexander, your younger sister spends the night God-knows-where all the time, and you want to tell me you are not allowed to stay at my place for one lousy night? What happened to the 'I'm eighteen and an adult and I can do whatever I want' talk you gave me only two weeks ago?"

The warlock stood up abruptly and began pacing up and down the living room. He was aware that he was talking himself into a rage, but he couldn't even find it in himself to care anymore. "Am I really asking too much of you when I ask you to stay over for once? Am I asking too much when I want to spend time with you? To talk to you and, you know, just _see you_, like it would be in any other relationship_?_"

"You see me all the time," Alec protested. "I come over often and then –"

"And after half an hour you usually get a stupid call from your stupid Nephilim friends to fight a stupid demon," Magnus finished the sentence for him, anger flashing in his car-like eyes. "And when you don't get a call, you make up some other stupid excuses so that you can leave. You know, if you detest spending time with me so much, why don't you just go?"

"I-" Alec was dumbstruck. Where was that coming from all of a sudden? "What? Why do you – of course I like spending time with you! And I hate it when Jace or Izzy interrupt us, you know that."

"Oh, yes, I know," Magnus snapped. "It's really easy to tell from the way you're always so overjoyed when you come here, and how you always have such problems leaving, and how you're always radiating the 'I'm so in love' vibes."

Alec blinked. The he noticed his mouth was hanging open and he was probably looking very stupid and remembered that he should shut it. It still took a few seconds to overcome his confusion. Just how had they gone from making out to Magnus throwing a hissy fit and doubting his feelings in less than two minutes? Sometimes he wished he could read his boyfriend's thoughts, just to know what was going on inside the warlock's head. Maybe that would help him understand his absurd obsession with fashion and glitter, too, which would be a plus. "Magnus," he began quietly, "I told you I love you, didn't I?"

Magnus inhaled sharply, but some of his anger seemed to deflate. "Yes," he said bitterly. "Yes, you did. But has the thought never crossed your mind that just saying you love me might not be enough?"

Alec was silent for a moment. "What else do you want me to do, then?" he asked in the end. "Jump around the flat and scream how much you mean to me and make a complete fool out of me in the process?"

"No," Magnus replied sharply. "It would suffice if you actually acted as if we were in a relationship. We are dating. You say you love me, and yet you can't even seem to stand being around me for longer than two or three hours at the most. You might want to conceal it, but you still flinch when I try to hold your hand in public because you're obviously ashamed of me. And you downright refuse to sleep in my apartment."

"I'm not ashamed of you, Magnus!" Alec interrupted him, "And I don't flinch. I _kissed you in front of the entire clave_, in case you've forgotten. And I'd love being around more often. I'm just...I'm not ready for this yet."

Magnus stopped to look at him and cocked one delicate eyebrow when he saw the way Alec averted his eyes shyly and the faint blush that crept up his neck. _Oh. So that was the problem._ "Alexander," he sighed. "It's not like I'm planning to ravish you and tarnish your virtue. I'm asking you to stay over."

"Don't pretend you wouldn't like to, though," Alec mumbled almost inaudibly, his cheeks turning redder by the second.

A grin spread over Magnus's face. "I certainly won't deny that. And you might want to stop chewing on your lip. Makes me want to nibble on it, too." Alec's blush deepened even more and Magnus couldn't help but wonder how someone of his profession could be embarrassed by the simplest things he said. Not that he was complaining – he loved making Alec blushed, because it made him look even more adorable than usually. Seeing his boyfriend's scowl, however, Magnus sobered up again immediately. Sighing inwardly, he flopped onto the couch next to Alec and took his face between his hands, forcing the shadowhunter to look at him.

"Alec," he began, "I'm not going to push you into anything you don't want, I promise. I will wait until you're ready. I've got all the time in the world." Alec's frown deepened at that, and Magnus hastened to continue. His immortality was a topic both of them had learned to avoid like a plague, because talking about it usually ended with tears and yelling and misery. "But it would be nice if you would agree to take some tiny steps with me, just like normal couples would."

"There's nothing normal about us," Alec interjected.

Magnus chose to deliberately ignore his comment. "I want you to answer my questions truthfully, Alexander. Do you have anywhere to be tonight, or any valid reason as to why you would have to return to the Institute? And by the way, the reasons you tried giving me before suck, so they don't count."

Alec sighed in defeat. "No."

"Do you think it is abnormal for a young couple in love to spend the night sleeping side by side?"

"No."

"Do you think I will rape you while you sleep?"

"No." The blush was becoming prominent again, but Alec's voice didn't waver. He did begin to play with the holes in his sweater, though, which was a clear indicator that he was nervous. Magnus sighed inwardly. As much as he loved Alec, sometimes he had the feeling they weren't going anywhere, and since he was not the most patient man in the world, he had a hard time accepting Alec's 'one step forward, one step back' behaviour. The shadowhunter was lucky he was so entirely smitten that he was willing to put up with all of this. One day, he knew, Alec would finally overcome his fears and all the hassle and the turmoil would have been worth it.

"Do you have any other objections to staying here?"

"...I don't have any pyjamas with me."

Magnus grinned happily, not even trying to hide his elation at Alec's lack of objections. "Now that is a problem that can easily be fixed. I'm not the High Warlock of Brooklyn for nothing, sweetheart." He snapped his fingers, and a blink of an eye later, a piece of black clothing landed in the Alec's lap.

Magnus shook his head. "Why doesn't this surprise me?" he asked. "You know, I think my next project will be to spice up your wardrobe."

"I'm not wearing rainbow leather pants. Period."

Magnus grinned. "We'll see, darling, we'll see..."

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><p><strong>AN.:** Reviews are lovely. ;) *nudge, nudge*

This is unbeta'd, by the way. I've gone over it twice, but it's 1 a.m. and I can't be bothered to check again. If you do find typos, you can keep them. Kidding ^^ please tell me and I'll correct them.


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